A team including John Holmes, a former commander in the
U.K. special forces, will deliver a report this week in the
capital, Hargeisa, on security in the region, Yonis said in a
phone interview on Oct. 4. Genel, the London-based company run
by former BP Plc Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward, said
Sept. 8 it temporarily suspended its search for oil in five
blocks in Somaliland “in the face of a deteriorating security
situation.”

The report by the team of experts will identify the
“security gap that needs to be sorted out,” Yonis said.
“We’ll fill the gaps that are of concern.”

Somaliland, a former British colony, declared independence
from Somalia in 1991, following the ouster of former Somali
dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. No country has officially
recognized it as a sovereign state. Previous attempts to
encourage exploration in the region foundered because of
perceptions among investors that Somaliland has the same
security concerns as neighboring Somalia, where Islamist
militants have been seeking to establish an Islamic state since
at least 2006.

The U.K. Foreign Office advises against all travel in
Somaliland because of the “high threat” that westerners face
from terrorism and kidnapping, according to its website. The
U.S. State Department warns its citizens to obtain kidnap and
recovery insurance when traveling in the region.

Suicide Bombers

The government has taken measures to prevent attacks by al-Shabaab, the Islamist militia in Somalia, Yonis said. Somaliland
was targeted by suicide bombers in October 2008, when explosives
were detonated at Somaliland’s presidential palace, the
Ethiopian Embassy and a United Nations Development Programme
compound in Hargeisa. At least 23 people died in the attacks,
which also hit the neighboring breakaway region of Puntland.

“Somaliland is on the frontline when it comes to terrorism
and we are doing what we can, and so far so good,” he said.

Yonis last week accompanied President Ahmed Mohamed
Mohamoud to Turkey, where the government is mediating talks
about Somaliland’s insistence on breaking away from Somalia.
Further discussions will be held next month, Yonis said.

“We made our position very clear that the independence of
Somaliland is non-negotiable,” he said. “We don’t want to be
part of Somalia. We are willing to be neighbors and friends and
brothers who can cooperate.”